Celebrating 3 Years Tonight!

Tonight, we’re going all out.

We’re gonna be EXTRA.

We’re taking it to LEVEL 11.

Why? Because we want to celebrate OUR COMMUNITY always and forever…

The people who believed in us when Crate Hackers just used to be PDFs (lol)…

The people who took the time to tell us about bugs and improvements we can make…

The people who came back to Crate Hackers to give us another try…

Tonight, we celebrate YOU. We have SO many surprises and announcements to bring to you. Make sure you sign up for our giveaways here and notifications when we go live.

It’s not too late to enter into the HUGE giveaway (thanks to Both Lighting USA). We’re giving away over 2 packages of 360 tube lights and 2 packages of IR-4 uplights so LOTS of people can win.

PLUS we’ve also got prizes to give away from our friends at Fastset (table pro bundle with carry case), 75 silent disco headphones from Silence Activations, 3 months of SMPL and a Vibo Hoodie & Backpack.

Pioneer Acquires Serato in a Potentially Game Changing Move (2 min read)

For the 2nd time in 3 weeks, Pioneer is on our radar. Serato has been bought by Pioneer DJ, which is a major development in the DJ industry. For rekordbox users, this news could be positive as Serato's technology will be integrated into the Pioneer DJ ecosystem. However, for Serato users, there may be some uncertainty as other companies may prefer to license software directly from a non-competitor. In particular, companies like Re-Loop, Hercules, Roland, and Denon DJ may consider alternatives like Engine DJ. This acquisition also raises questions about potential monopolistic control by Pioneer DJ, as they would own the majority of the software market. It remains to be seen how this will impact other DJ software providers such as Algoriddim, Virtual DJ, and more.

TikTok Launches New Music Streaming Platform (quick read)

TikTok has announced plans to launch a music streaming service called TikTok Music. This new service will initially be available in Indonesia and Brazil. The unique aspect of TikTok Music is its integration with existing TikTok accounts, enabling users to listen to, share, and download tracks they discover on the platform. It also introduces features like sing-alongs and swipe-based music discovery.

TikTok Music will compete with established music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. However, TikTok aims to differentiate itself by leveraging its large user base and high engagement levels, offering innovative features and seamless integration with its video-sharing platform.

TikTok's move into the music streaming market signifies its intention to dominate the music industry and could have several implications for other streaming services:

1. Increased Competition: TikTok's entry into the music streaming market increases competition, especially for established platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. These platforms will need to innovate and improve their services to retain their user base.

2. User Migration: Given TikTok's massive user base and high engagement levels, there's a potential for users, especially younger demographics, to migrate from existing platforms to TikTok Music. This could lead to a decrease in the user base for other platforms.

3. Innovation and Feature Development: To compete with TikTok Music's unique features, such as sing-alongs and swipe-based music discovery, other platforms may need to introduce similar or more innovative features. This could lead to a rapid evolution of features and services in the music streaming industry.

4. Market Consolidation: In the long run, the increased competition could lead to market consolidation, with larger players acquiring smaller ones to increase their market share and diversify their offerings.

TikTok's entry into the music streaming market could disrupt the status quo, forcing other services to adapt and innovate to stay competitive. Sound familiar?

Featured Crate of the Week

This weeks featured Crate of the Week was curated by none other than Mike Villa. I took this R&B crate out for a run and it didn’t disappoint. Mike was definitely taking us on a trip and each turn made so much sense. My only issue is I wish I had it a week ago, this was the perfect crate for my last wedding. Get the crate. Side note, if you aren’t following Mike Villa on IG you’re missing all of the fun too.

Watch Aaron Traylor Discuss Downsized Your Library. (3 min video)

Aaron provides essential tips for choosing the right songs for your library. He emphasizes staying up to date on the charts and trusting your gut to decide what fits your style in your market. If you get rid of what you aren't using you will spend less time searching and more time party rocking.

FUTURE APPs & AI That Excites Us

Pictory.ai - Another great new tool that will take your long video and create snippets of it. This one also will take your text, (emails, blogs etc) and turn it into video, complete with voiceover, video stock footage and music! All using AI

Want to step up your sales presentation? Check out Journey.io. With Journey you can create beautiful sales presentations using AI and truly tell a story using video, responsive slides and interactive blocks. Trust me the new age client will love the look and feel of this process.

PlaylistAI - Well check this out, now you can use AI to make Apple Music or Spotify playlists. You can tell the AI things like, “music similar to Bruno Mars” or “chill coffee shop vibes”. There’s also a ChatGPT plugin for this app to enhance the experience even further. I’m sure they aren’t using the advanced metrics like key and danceability but it’s pretty cool to see what it can do for your personal playtime.

YO DJ - HOW DID WE DO?

Enjoyed the 6th edition of our weekly newsletter? Let us know what else you want to see included in a weekly newsletter! We really want this to be something that doesn’t go straight to spam and is NOT LIKE any other “newsletter.” This is interactive.

Take our quick The Future DJ Newsletter Survey and give us your opinion of what would make this dope to read every week.